Bowman Expeditions

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Bowman Expeditions

The AGS Bowman Expeditions Program provides a framework for gathering human geography data through fieldwork in foreign areas. It provides an improved understanding of foreign people and places through university-based, scholar-student research. It produces vital, open-source information that results in better understanding of people and places worldwide and practical assistance in mapping, analysis, and GIS functionality for host countries and communities.

The American Geographical Society sends teams of geographers to foreign countries to:

Build a comprehensive multi-scale geographic information system (GIS) for each region

Collect open-source GIS data

Conduct participatory research mapping (PRM) to help residents learn to use geographic Information systems (GIS) to document their own knowledge of lands and resources

Build lasting relationships among American and foreign scholars and institutions

Conduct geographic research on issues of national interest to the United States and host countries

Train a new cadre of regional experts

Disseminate GIS data freely to the public

Publish results in scholarly journals and popular media.

Our purpose is to improve U. S. understanding of foreign lands and peoples and, thereby, to

We aim to revitalize world human and regional geography. Prior to 1945, these were vital components of understanding in America as in the rest of the world today. We aim to revive America’s knowledge of foreign lands and peoples and improve it with modern theories, methods, and automated information technologies.

Each project is called a Bowman Expedition in honor of former AGS Director Isaiah Bowman who served as President Wilson’s geographer in World War I and President Roosevelt’s geographer in World War II.

Bowman Expeditions have been conducted in the following countries and world regions:

Based on the highly acclaimed successes of these separate projects, AGS proposes to establish a cohesive program covering many countries around the world. All Bowman Expeditions are conducted in partnership with universities. To date, about a dozen different universities have been involved.

For internal guidance, AGS formed an Advisory Committee to advise and consult on the AGS Bowman Expedition Program. It consists of leading scholars, eventually including foreign scholars. The Advisory Committee held its first meeting on September 14, 2011 in Lawrence, Kansas, to develop directives for the program. All subsequent meetings and discussions have been electronic.